The cost of California ballot measure campaigns is well known, and the biggest one this year is already shattering records: Two initiatives that would allow sports betting in the Golden State have received close to $360 million in funding from organisations sponsored by online gambling corporations and tribal casinos.
This is a startling $133 million more than the state’s previous most expensive proposal, which was defeated two years ago when Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash paid more than $200 million to overturn a state law that would have treated their drivers as employees.
During the whole campaign, the groups vying to control the potential windfall of a California sports gambling empire raised an average of $16.5 million each week, surpassing the total amount raised for three of the state’s seven ballot proposals.
The Yes and No on Prop 26 and 27 campaigns have raised a lot of money to target California voters with billboards that are springing up all across the state and numerous advertisements that assault us during nearly every commercial break for Wheel of Fortune. As of July 1, the competing campaigns had spent at least $45 million on TV and cable production costs; further expenditures are expected in the coming days.
According to Thad Kousser, professor of political science at UC San Diego and co-director of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, “you won’t be able to watch the news, a football game, or a YouTube video without seeing a message on these efforts.”
The small number of committees established to promote and oppose the seven proposals that will appear on Californians’ ballots when they are mailed out in October have collectively gathered more than $450 million just in this year.
However, other businesses outside gaming interests are drawing attention to their spending. Over $170,000 was spent on Super Bowl weekend-related activities, according to campaign finance filings tied to Prop 1 backers. Prop 1 would amend the state constitution to protect Californians’ rights to abortion and contraception. The amount raised by the campaign so far this year is almost exactly half of that.
Before the Supreme Court decision reversing Roe v. Wade made abortion a contentious national issue, the expenditures were made on behalf of Toni Atkins’ ballot committee, a leading Senate Democrat. It revealed spending of nearly $18,000 on refreshments for the Super Bowl, $14,850 on a concert at Crypto.com Arena, and $88,429.50 on tickets to the game in Los Angeles.
The groups supporting and opposing the two contentious gaming propositions have received the vast bulk of the funds raised across all ballot initiatives—more than $357 million.
Simply simply, Proposition 27 would make it legal to wager on sports online in California. With the passage of Proposition 26, the range of betting options available at tribal casinos and racetracks would be expanded to include sports betting.
Despite the hundreds of millions in anticipated state revenue, Republican and Democratic officials in Sacramento recently voiced their opposition to Proposition 27.
Five businesses—DraftKings, Fanduel Sportsbook, BetMGM, Penn Interactive Ventures, and FBG Enterprises—most of which focus on online gambling—have each contributed $25 million to promote Prop 27. The amount gathered in support of Prop 27 has now reached $150 million thanks to contributions from two more businesses, WSI US LLC and Bally’s Interactive LLC, which each gave $12.5 million.
Over $100 million has been donated to one of the committees supporting Prop 26 and opposing Prop 27 by a group of tribes and casinos. The Pechanga Band of Indians and the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria are the largest contributors, each contributing more over $25 million.
Money spent on advertising does not necessarily prioritise gaming. Numerous advertisements highlight the initiatives that the proposed cash would be used to support. The proposition would offer “lasting solutions for homelessness, mental health, and addiction in California,” according to advertisements promoting Prop 27.
Advertisements against Prop 27 but in favour of Prop 26 emphasise the rights of the tribes who control the state’s casinos while claiming that Prop 27 won’t alleviate California’s protracted homelessness epidemic.
With nearly $63 million in reported expenses so far this cycle, groups in favour of Prop 26 and those against Prop 27 have jointly spent the most money on political campaigns. Over $780,000 went to Yahoo, over $675,000 went to Google, and almost $1.2 million went to Facebook for advertising.